Avon Russia gives 2,000 free breast health checks in Tver

More than 2,000 residents of the Tver region in Russia received free-of-charge breast health checks last week in the third stage of the ‘Pink Ribbon in Your City’ programme for 2017 and 2018.  The ‘Pink Ribbon’ campaign, which has now visited three regions in Russia over the last year, aims to not only provide free comprehensive breast examinations (including mammography where suitable) but also inform, educate and provoke discussion and cooperation between government agencies, charities and commercial organizations in the healthcare sector.

Since its inception in 2013, ‘Pink Ribbon’ has given 40,000 women in 20 Russian cities free breast examinations by highly qualified mammologists.  The latest phase in the campaign was wholeheartedly welcomed by the Ministry of Health for the Tver region who said that it’s an important initiative because it raises awareness with thousands of women and unites forces of public, commercial and charitable organizations to help improve the situation in the future.

The Pink Ribbon campaign is run by Avon and the Cancer Prevention Foundation. "Together with Avon, we have been running the Pink Ribbon in Your City for more than five years, and each event builds the argument for better cooperation between government agencies, charitable and commercial organizations in the healthcare sector. We not only check the health of women - we analyze the organization of the health care system in a specific region, we bring these findings to the attention of the professional community and together we are looking for solutions,” says Ilya Fomintsev, oncologist and executive director of the Cancer Prevention Foundation.

Ilya Politkovskiy, Director of Corporate and Internal Communications at Avon in Russia and Eastern Europe said, “A successful fight against breast cancer is primarily about prevention and early detection.  And we at Avon are doing everything possible to make women aware of the risks of this disease, help them understand its signs and understand where to go for help."

The 2017 – 2018 season of the Pink Ribbon campaign was launched in October 2017 during Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Avon Russia committed to taking the campaign to four cities within the year and having already been to Saransk, Khabarovsk and Tver, the fourth city in this season will be Krasnodar where the campaign will begin in May.